Miscellaneous: July 1998 Archives
I could not care less if your opinion is humble, not humble, or anything else. If you have an opinion, just state it as your opinion.
I am not sure why this bugs me. Maybe it is because I am worried that all those extra bits are going to add up some day and I'll need two extra bits to save the 4-digit date of my thesis, but because someone wrote "IMNSHO" I am out of luck.
But I think it is just the idea that I think you are trying to lessen the impact with that extra "H". It's kinda like typing, "I hate you and your dog. :-)", and hoping that I won't take it personally. Or maybe it is just this postmodern attitude that we shouldn't believe in anything. Dammit, own up the fact that you have a thought in your head and that you believe something!
I think humility is important. I think it is important to realize that we don't know everything, and that our opinions can very well be wrong. But you people are wearing your humility like some freakshow badge of honor, as if the absence of a strongly held belief were something to be proud of.
I am a homeowner now. I kinda think those commercials that advertise home equity loans are a bit off-beat. Even the best ones have low production values, like the ones starring Dan Marino.
I saw a new commercial the other day. Some two-bit actors are making fun of the other commercials, saying that sports figures don't know anything about home equity loans. Let me get this straight: a multimillionaire sports figure, an intelligent quarterback who has a high-priced agent, a guy who values his name and his reputation, is to be trusted less than some actors who would kill their agent to get a paying gig?
That was kinda annoying to me, until I saw a commercial with actors claiming that they could have sex now that they got their home equity loan. "Well, that solved our problem," says the woman in bed. "ProbLEMS," says the man, as he turns out the light. You don't need Viagra(TM), you need a home equity loan! We doan need no steenking pills!
Sigh. If I were reading The Brothers Karamzov (did you know that William Shatner played Alyosha in Brothers Karamzov opposite Yul Brenner in his film debut?) instead of watching TV, I would not have this problem.
"It is the common fate of the indolent to see their rights become a prey to the active. The condition upon which God hath given liberty to man is eternal vigilance; which condition if he break, servitude is at once the consequence of his crime and the punishment of his guilt."
